We will have only three full days to hit the highlights and not stress grandmother out. Context: from tiny town in Texas, 1st trip for the girls, looking for educational value, in addition to fun, trip is gift from grandmother with limited stamina and Midtown comfort zone.
Here is what I have on my list so far:
Thurs: arrive in NY at 1:00 pm, cab to Parker Meridien, grandmother naps, kids swim.
5ish dinner at Serendipity and Top of the Rock.
Fri: Times Square/American Girl Place/Toys-R-Us; lunch at John%26#39;s Pizzaria; back to hotel for Grandma, kids %26amp; I walk around Central Park; dinner? see Spelling Bee
Sat: Met/Museum of Nat History/Fao Schwartz; grandma rest, kids %26amp; I take subway to Brooklyn and walk the bridge back?
Sun: Ground Zero; Staten Island Ferry round trip to see SOL from boat; Tenement Museum; UN tour?
Mon: pack for lunchtime return
Sigh* I don%26#39;t know where to fit in St. John the Divine, St. Patrick%26#39;s Cathedral, Wall Street, Sub-Treasury Building, Lincoln Center walking tour, the Village or other neighborhoods. I need inexpensive suggestions for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, too.
I have spent close to 20 hours reading this site since we opened our ';gift trip'; and I%26#39;m overwhelmed with choices. Help?
11 year old twin girls %26amp; grandmother - Itinerary Help?
Oops, forgot Grand Central Terminal! Would that fit in with the museum day?
11 year old twin girls %26amp; grandmother - Itinerary Help?
how old are your kids?
Spelling Bee is fine except that there is a song about a boy having an erection when he looks at another girl in the spelling bee.
First of all, congrats on reading this forum so thoroughly and not asking what is the best way to get from JFK to midtown! We already love you!
Secondly - no worries!! You will all have a great time!
Thurs and Fri. sound fine.
Comments:
1. Saturday: Don%26#39;t try to do the Met Museum AND the Museum of Natural History in one day. Pick only one. I%26#39;d go with the Natural History. Great for kids!!!
After the Natural History, eat at someplace like Pizzeria Uno on Columbus Ave. Or take the B or C train downtown to Columbus Circle and eat at the Whole Foods in the lower level of the Time Warner building. Kinda pricey for an organic supermarket, but it will please everyone.
2. Sunday: You can take a subway or short cab ride (or walk) from Ground Zero to Wall Street and Sub-treasury building. The distance is about a half mile. Take the #4 or 5 train from Fulton Street (near the WTC) downtown one stop to Wall Street. You will exit directly in front of Trinity Church.
Check out Trinity Church and see the churchyard gravesites of Alexander ';10 dollar'; Hamilton and Robert ';Steamboat'; Fulton. Great church.
http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/history/
Then cross the street to Wall Street and George Washington%26#39;s statue.
If you have the time and stamina, go to the South Street Seaport to sit under the Brooklyn Bridge.
2. I%26#39;d skip the U.N., Lincoln Center and the Met Museum. Too much standing and the kids may not ';get'; them.
You gotta save something for next trip anyway. ;o)
For cheap eats, check this website:
www.cheapotravel.com
and select New York
Have a wonderful time!
Hi fiddler. Take a deep breath. I%26#39;ll comment line by line. There are probably rules about the kids using the pool. I doubt there%26#39;s a lifeguard so they probably can%26#39;t be at the pool alone and there may be special hours for kids to swim. I also think it%26#39;s unrealistic to think you%26#39;ll arrive in Manhattan and the kids will want to swim rather than see New Yawk. I%26#39;m afraid you have to forget the nap.;)
Just have an easy afternoon and make it an early night. I would not ';schlepp'; over to Serendipity on the first night. If you want to see Top of the Rock, either eat dinner at Rock. Ctr. (maybe the Rock Ctr. cafe overlooking the ice rink) or maybe even back at the hotel at the Burger Joint? There are also good options in the food court in Rock Ctr. downstairs. St. Patrick%26#39;s is just across from Rock Ctr. So is Saks and American Girl. So you could stop in to St. Pat%26#39;s now or when seeing American Girl. Also, imo, no need to do Times Square during the day on this day since you%26#39;ll be there in the evening tomorrow. Trying to save your feet.
It is unrealistic to do Met Museum %26amp; Nat. History in the same day. I would actually nix one of those and replace with MOMA or UN, both midtown, nearer your hotel.
Fri. American Girl, St. Patrick%26#39;s, MOMA or UN, lunch maybe--La Bonne Soup (55 st) if going to MOMA. Rest! John%26#39;s pizza for dinner then the theater. Yes, there%26#39;s one song in Spelling Bee that may prompt some s*x questions. Or maybe I%26#39;m being naive.
Sat.FAO Schwarz, walk into Central Park and head to the zoo (65 st) Then to Met OR Nat. History.
Then options--Serendipity for dinner OR go over to Brooklyn, eat at Grimaldi%26#39;s pizza and walk back.
Sunday sounds like your downtown day. What you have up to the Tenement tour. Forget UN on this day. Stay downtown and do the village and/or Soho. The girls will want to go to Chinatown. The rest will have to wait for another trip, Grandma.
Monday morning, Grand Central Station for some cheesecake from Junior%26#39;s, a look at the station, and to check out the whispering gallery outside Oyster Bar.
Save the rest for the next trip. ;)
You have gotten great advice! I agree that you may want to at least take a brief walk around when you first get in to the city to appease the girls, then maybe a short nap. :) I%26#39;ve been with my kids a few times and I also agree with only 1 museum (since you are only there 3 days), skip the UN Tour, Lincoln Center and Treasur Bldg, unless your girls have a real love for music. They would love Chinatown, all my kids enjoyed shopping for the little trinkets. And I also agree with nywhiz about Spelling Bee. Have you already bought the tickets? It may be iffy for their ages. The American Girl Place has plays perfect for their ages, or another Broadway Show possibly. They won%26#39;t know what they miss, so don%26#39;t worry. Have a great time!
Just back from NYC with 12 year old girl.
Just do the Met--see the costumes and ';period'; rooms, and see what kind of paintings attract the girls and go with that. Eat at the Met cafe if convenient.
Try eating at Rock Ctr cafe (or grab something in food court and a seat near tthe ice rink downstairs), and watch the skaters . Have the girls skate there or in Bryant Park a short walk away.
My daughter loved the UN tour, but she is a child who keeps up with world affairs and is very interested in politics, etc. If your girls are similar, they would like the tour, otherwise, they%26#39;ll be bored.
Try the CNN studios tour--it is close by, and very interesting for kids and grandma to see how the news is put together. There is a fun chance to make your own newscasting DVD (for extra money) after the tour. This was a highlight for my daughter.
You%26#39;ll walk by St. Patrick%26#39;s and can just pop in for even 5 minutes, if that%26#39;s all you have. It is beautiful.
Definitely go to Grand Central and see it and spend time eating. Lots of food choices (and cheescake too) downstairs and fun shopping my kids enjoyed.
We say several shows, including Altar Boyz, which we loved, but we are Catholics who laugh at ourselves and our religion on a regular basis. To check on show appropriatness for your family, go to the show%26#39;s websites and read on line reviews.
Hope that helps!
The advice you have gotten so far is very good.
The thing that jumps off the page at me is that your plans are a little bit scattered all over the map -- if you cluster things so that you spend the whole day in a single (extended) neighborhood, you will find it all much less taxing.
For example, on Sat you have the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side, FAO Schwartz in midtown, and the Brooklyn Bridge downtown.
On another day, you have Central Park - which is across the street from the same Museum -- and American Girl Place -- which is just down the street from FAO Schwartz!
What you should do is have one day as your Downtown day. Start out by taking the A or C subway from Columbus Circle to High Street in Brooklyn and walk the bridge back (you will want to do this when you are freshest.) Cross City Hall park and head down Broadway, where you can see the Woolworth Building, St. Paul%26#39;s Chapel (ground zero is behind St. Paul%26#39;s) Trinity Church and churchyard, Wall Street, Bowling Green, the Indian Museum (if you are not sick of museums by then!) and the Ferry. Make a long morning of it, and then take the subway back to Chinatown (N or R uptown from Whitehall Street station, across the street from the SI Ferry terminal to Canal Street; exit and walk east on Canal towards Mott Street.) Chinatown will be unlike anything at home, you can get a fun and cheap lunch there, and then go back to the hotel to rest.
Another day can Fifth Avenue - Rockefeller Center, American Girl Place, St. Patrick%26#39;s, St. Thomas%26#39;s, Tiffany%26#39;s, and FAO Schwartz could all be done on the same ten-block stroll, ending at Grand Army Plaza and the entrance to Central Park.
The kids might find the UN boring, but if you are going to the Musuem of Natural History (a much better idea), you could also check out the Planetarium at the same time, and that would also be the day to go to St. John%26#39;s -- it is at 116th Street and not all that far from the Museum which is at 81st.
Get a map (and also a subway map!) and see which sites are nearest to each other. Don%26#39;t be afraid to use the subway -- and wear COMFORTABLE shoes!!!
Thank you! Thank you!
Well, after I posted my sample itinerary, Grandmother had me book Spamalot for the first night (Thurs) because it had the best seats available. Her treat and I am just happy to go! I am hopeful that the content of that show will be more appropriate for my well-insulated daughters.
I am so sorry I didn%26#39;t use a map to plan. It would have saved you all trouble. Thank you for helping me ';see'; where things are.
I am still interested in doing a tour, either the red buses or the water tour. I figure that will allow Grandmother some time off her feet and give us a quick overview. Any suggestions? Will Friday be a good day for that?
You can certainly take a tour, but you have to give up something else in order to make time. You still don%26#39;t mentione when this is happening. I wouldn%26#39;t recommend a ';water tour'; right now and while the scenery is nice, you%26#39;re seeing things from quite a distance. You might consider either the Marvellous Manhattan Tour or the NY Party Shuttle tour, both smallish buses that stay with you rather than a hop on/off thing.
I didn%26#39;t realize Mom was coming too so Grandma will get some time off ;)
If the trip is happening in spring/summer, the water taxi can be fun.
We are coming the first in May.
No comments:
Post a Comment